1. Technical Field
This invention relates to baggage handling systems and, more particularly, to automated airport baggage handling systems.
2. Prior Art
Current methods of handling baggage at airline terminals employ tractor or tug drawn carts shuttling between the terminal and baggage receiving and delivery areas in the terminal and require several manual loading and unloading operations involving the handling of each article. These methods are labor intensive and increase the risk of damage to articles within the baggage. Instances of delay, loss, damage, and misrouting multiply with the increasing size of aircraft and number of passengers as does the costs of baggage handling to carriers. Newer and larger aircraft are equipped with baggage and cargo containers, but the use of these containers has not reduced the amount of manual handling, particularly of baggage.
Airline companies are continually striving to find ways to decrease costs, particularly labor, due to the comparably high wages paid in this mostly unionized industry. The implementation of a baggage handling system that minimizes the amount of manpower necessary and the number of times each article is handled in the transfer of baggage between receiving and delivery areas in the terminal would help reduce costs by decreasing the number of employees required to handle baggage. Such a system would also improve the sorting of baggage to decrease the number of misrouted or lost articles and expedite the receipt of baggage by passengers at the baggage delivery area.
Accordingly, a need remains for an automated airline baggage handling system that reduces labor costs, improves sorting and routing, and expedites delivery.